Delayed Breakout
Liew Late
Grilled Birds met Ambush F.C. for the first time since their relegation from II.2 last season, and the Clementi club have been doing very well in III.1, being on eleven wins and a draw - with a six-game winning streak - thus far. Considering that the latest clash between the sides had Ambush F.C. prevail 3-1 thanks to a Mahmoud El Omda brace and Wil Tai finisher, they had to be fancying their chances today, with advancement in the AFC ASIAN CUP at stake.
El Omda and Tai would both start, as did season-end signing Han Rong Yeng, who featured as an inverted right winger. Head coach Chow Pin Qiang went for a wide back three deploying Li Su Yi and Chew Ping Cheng as wingbacks today, possibly to handle Grilled's own wingers in
Phillip Nagata and
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko. There were otherwise next to no experiments on
Tian Yonghang's part, as
Raúl Himadas returned to defence.
It was unclear whether Himadas warranted that from his general inability to keep tabs on Wil Tai, though, and he was completely left behind when Tai crossed over to the right side in the 14th minute, with Liew Qiang Ze swapping across; this required a brave block from
Radomil Marcol. In contrast,
Phillip Nagata would have the finish too on his 29th minute sprint up the middle, catching
Aw Keng Chuan's bouncing pass on the rise to clip it past David Stacey for 1-0.
The opponents were slightly deflated by that, and the Birds would create a flurry of chances in the very productive seven-minute spell that immediately followed.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul came very close in the 33rd as he shifted to the outside of Kiichi Kida before going for the lob, but it went behind for a corner after a slight deflection. Himadas played it short, and
Genki Nagano wriggled his way through a crowded box to scrap home the second goal.
One more would arrive in a jiffy, as Grilled milked their hot streak for all it was worth. Ambush F.C. were caught between stabilizing the situation and getting their own back as soon as possible, and this contradiction doomed them in the 36th minute, as
Chad Thach found himself with all the space in the world, between Ambush's midfield and back lines.
Hwang Teck Fu called for it from the middle, but Thach elected to go it himself, and carried the ball for some fifteen yards before driving it past Stacey at the correct moment.
This was certainly all looking very good for Grilled, but Ambush F.C. would not be silent for much longer. They came out of the tunnel looking the hungrier team by some distance, and their engine room would dominate the Birds' once the game was restarted. Grilled were unable to fully cope against such an onslaught, and although Genki managed to redirect Kee Kok Hui's initial charge, the ball was left to run loose in the penalty area and was eventually snapped up by Han Rong Yeng's big right boot.
That was 3-1, and the matched returned to a relatively calm state, with the Birds placing control as a priority. They felt bold enough to resume an attacking posture after a bit, but it was not until the 79th minute that they manufactured another truly promising opening.
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko would be released on the left side then by
Lim An Keng's cheeky dragback and release, only to drill it into the side netting with Hwang again waving fruitlessly in the middle.
It was a frustrating day for the Grilled centre forward indeed, as he was then barged aside by Kee Kok Hui two minutes later at the tail-end of a penetrating dribble, with a force that much have verged on the illegal.
Hwang Teck Fu briefly considered appealing to the referee but thought better of it, as Ambush F.C. swept into the counter without a hitch. Han Rong Yeng blew up the right flank with Hein nowhere to be found, and Liew Qiang Ze had a simple finish once the cross reached his feet.
Ambush F.C. now had eight minutes plus added time to find two goals to progress, a mission that proved to be beyond them. Tian did his part with a slow triple substitution that put Hutter, Kendell and Reddy on the pitch, and the single minute of injury time saw
Lim An Keng barge Kiichi off the ball to get a shot on David Stacey... that was however parried aside with emphasis.
